


Father's Truth

by ilyena_sylph, Merfilly



Series: For Family [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Thrawn Trilogy - Timothy Zahn, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And then there's Vader's ace in the hole, Bail never wanted to face this man like this, Darth Vader has Anger Issues, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-16 22:32:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7287331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/pseuds/ilyena_sylph, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vader has questions. Bail has answers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Father's Truth

Bail Organa might have retired, but that did not mean he was any less busy. If anything, he was more busy, as he tried to coordinate too many different efforts in various sectors of the Galaxy. Learning that Darth Vader himself was landing was very unwelcome, but at least he was never so foolish as to work on his agenda from home in any fashion that could be incriminating. He hurried up from the offices he had been in, going to try and intercept the Sith Lord to prevent any potential harm to his people.

He had no idea why the monster had come, but he was adept at presenting the right face to the Empire. He reached him quickly, and spoke as soon as he had. "Lord Vader, this is a surprise, but an honor," he said smoothly, his political acumen keeping the lie hidden.

"Spare me your slippery words, Organa," Vader rasped out. "I will speak with you privately." His body language, enhanced by the sheer menace of the suit, was aggressive and intimidating toward the former Senator.

"As you wish, Lord Vader. If you will accompany me, there is a suitable chamber not far from here," he answered, not allowing himself to protest the insult, not when the power of this mechanical monstrosity's anger was almost a physical thing. Half a taste, half a scent... and, he knew, all of it was a twisted manifestation of the Force.

Why was he here? Why now? 

Leia? 

No, oh stars no, she hadn't betrayed her gift since she was barely walking. He opened the door and let the black-draped tyrant step within the shielded study, though he made no move to activate those devices. 

Vader pointedly took a seat, rather than remain standing. He needed to control his anger long enough to get answers.

"I want the truth of your daughter, Organa. Her biological parentage." He kept his words as even as he could, listening to the Force.

Bail locked away the sudden flare of fright and stared at the perfectly even, inhuman mask, all of his confusion showing instead. What? Even if, somehow, Leia had shown herself sensitive, what difference could her parentage make? Were the worst of his suspicions actually true, and the monster in front of him was... 

"What?" he asked aloud, honestly shocked. Vader had barely glanced at Leia, why... "Her mother was a dear friend." 

The armrest of the chair squeaked in protest, despite Vader's hands being in front of him. Bail saw where the metal had given way to some great pressure… and realized the Sith Lord was being relatively restrained in his anger. That was shocking, and stilled his tongue long enough for Vader to speak.

"Bail Organa, that child is under no danger from me," came from the man in a tight voice, the tension palpable despite the electronic quality. "But she will be, from another, unless you tell me clearly who her mother was."

Tell him clearly? 

Tell _Vader_ , the Emperor's leashed hound, that the man's worst enemy had -- 

\-- but something told him not to avoid the question any longer, when Vader came even that close to giving his word. "Her mother was Senator Padmé Amidala," he answered, wishing desperately for Yoda to appear, for Kenobi, simply for the time to warn his daughter that she must escape now... and watching the monster's expressionless mask with everything else he had.

The mask stayed on his face in silence for a long time, the eyes behind those lenses boring into this man as if to see all of his secrets. "I see," he finally said, and nothing around them was destroyed, yet Bail knew that the monster sitting there was as violently raging as a winter storm, and twice as deadly. It hung thickly in the air, trying to find some expression, but Bail's truth had won him a reprieve from it.

The Emperor had lied! In his madness, Vader had not killed the woman he loved, the woman he had turned the entire galaxy on its ear for. She had lived long enough to give birth--

"Did Padmé truly die?" were the next words, and he was seeking any sign of a lie from Bail in this.

He had never heard Darth Vader's voice sound... soft. But on that name, even the hissing rasp of the voder could not hide the traces of worship and love. Horror struck him, true and complete, as old memories of a young, fearlessly bold man, graceful and determined, flashed through his mind. 

Bail had never wanted to believe that the monster that knelt at Sidious' feet could be the Republic's beloved and greatest hero -- Obi-Wan had said he was dead, had died on Mustafar, what obscene magic was this, that -- Vader almost growled, the arms of the chair creaking, and almost despite himself, he nodded. 

"She lived only long enough to birth her daughter," thank the Force that Leia was younger, and he was speaking nothing but the truth, "before the med-droids lost her. There was no _reason_ for it!" 

"No reason but one, and one cause alone," Vader hissed out. The Emperor had done this! The man he had trusted, the man that had promised him the one thing he wanted more than anything else in all the galaxy! He had taken Padmé's life! He had to have been the culprit, because Padmé was strong! She would have lived for her child, and … to stop him, if nothing else!

"You will not speak of this conversation to anyone, Bail Organa," Vader warned. "The girl will be under my protection, discreetly." His head tipped slightly, conveying deadly consequences for disobeying him. "I suggest you make a choice now. To trust me, and win the keys to overthrowing the Empire's choke-hold on the galaxy, or to defy me, and be named my personal enemy, despite having sheltered and raised the child in her mother's footsteps."

That hiss, low and softly savage... Bail felt as though he had been plunged into the depths of the arctic sea, even as something like hope flickered deep in his chest. 

To turn Vader against the Emperor... oh, that would be Padmé's victory at long, long last. "Even dying," Bail replied quietly, "Padmé believed in you... Anakin. For what she believed... I suppose I can do no less." 

"That name has no place in my life now." Vader rose, pacing as he contemplated what had to be done. He was not strong enough to defeat the Emperor alone, but if he could weaken the Moffs, and find the right time, with the right allies… yes, he could make the galaxy safer for Padmé's daughter. "What plan did you have, should you defeat the Emperor's vision of the galaxy, Organa?

"Who do you mean to hand all of that power to, when the vacuum caused by his death sucks at all morals and ethics, tempting the victors to embrace the reins of this Empire?" He did not even care that he was revealing his loathing for what he had helped create.

Bail watched warily as Vader paced, stalking through his study, the rasp of his breathing far louder than his footsteps... and then he listened hard to those words. "No one person," he answered, "not at first. Co-Chancellors, or Speakers, with strictly limited terms and powers, and a Senate returned to what it was at its best, not this body that ceaselessly rubber-stamps that tyrant's whims. 

"If I have my way, at least one will be non-human, if not both, at least for the first decade or so. And as to that power... dissolve it, as best we can. Stand down portions of the Fleet and Army, turn them to restoring self-rule and freedom to all the peoples the Emperor has dragged into slavery..." 

Vader considered that. It sounded… much like he would expect of an ally to Padmé. "The Senate, Organa, was part of the problem that created this problem, as much as the Order's stagnation was. How do you propose to avoid the corruption, the inability to truly take care of the people, that bogged the former Senate down?"

He could stay calm, working though the mechanics of the rebellion he was plotting.

For a moment, all Bail Organa could do was stare at the swirl of cloak and armor that was Darth Vader pacing and nearly growling, and he raked a hand back through his hair. "Do you really think I don't know that?! 

"Me, who was right there beside her in every vote to give him more power that we couldn't find enough support to stop?! I know full well who paved the road for him, and it wasn't you!" 

Vader whirled to face him at that, coming to within a meter of the other man. "Good. Keep that in mind as we tear down this monstrosity!" It would be difficult, but if the Emperor, in his efforts to control everything, was taxed to a breaking point, Vader might just be able to win, with a little help from his own hidden assets.

Bail nodded once, slowly. "I do have some thoughts, though. Money in campaigns has always been a problem. Limiting that -- either by allowing only funds from any campaign's own world, or better, only equally split state funds in any campaign, would help. I'd dearly like to bar corporations from direct participation, or limit Senate seats to only representatives of _peoples_... but they'd just slip in the back door, the same way they did the first time.

"Redefining what powers the New Republic central government actually must hold, and dispersing the others out to the systems might be an even better place to start." 

"Intriguing concepts," Vader agreed. "That will be for after we win. You will receive codes from me, soon, with a timetable for operations. If you cannot come up with the resources to meet the demands, Organa, it will make more deaths than necessary." He was certain the logistics he had in mind would be met, though, given what his own spies had learned of the Rebel Alliance.

"To rid us of the Emperor?" Bail snorted, even as that idea set his mind reeling. That Vader would throw in fully with them... "I'll find the resources. 

"You... how did you realize? Did she -- " 

"I have my methods," Vader said. It angered him to hear that protective worry, yet… at least it meant Padmé's daughter had been safe. He then leaned down and into Bail's space. "I take it, Organa, that you fear for her… that she might have… used abilities, perhaps?"

Padmé's daughter could use the Force? That sent a frisson of fear through him, as she was only with his Noghri to protect her.

"...she hasn't since she was barely a toddler," Bail responded, staying calm despite the threatening loom into his space, down over him. "I wasn't home, but my lady wife managed to misdirect the Emperor's -- Inquisitors," he said, rather than the 'hounds' he'd wanted to, "that came searching. And Leia's never done anything like that again. 

"I honestly hoped it was a one-time accident." 

"Impressive," Vader said, adding this to his growing knowledge of the child. "She should not be denied her heritage, Organa, but until the Emperor is destroyed, it is best that she keep her abilities contained."

He turned then to leave, as he had another place to go, before his Master had need of him. "Your honesty today is a boon to the future of the galaxy. I will be in touch soon."

"I," Bail replied, startled at himself for that the words were true, "will look forward to it." He moved to leave with him -- he had never known any Jedi to get lost, but it would reassure his people if they saw him walking easily in Lord Vader's company. 

Vader kept his steps short enough to let them walk together. He did not find it necessary to speak, but he could understand the need for building perceptions. Once he was at his ship, though, maneuvering to leave the planet, he felt his rage blanket him like a welcome friend.

The Emperor had killed his wife and stolen her daughter from him. Vader had accepted his place in the new order out of an inability to kill the man, and not having anything to fight for. That had now changed, and he would find a way to destroy Palpatine. He swore that in his soul, even as he turned his ship for the home of his loyal protectors and the treasure they were keeping for him.

For a few minutes, Bail watched the ship disappearing.... and then went to pour himself a very, very stiff drink. Mon Mothma was going to slowly dismember him, if this didn't work, if it was some new kind of trap... but he didn't believe it was. 

Far away, deep in a desert and equally deep in a swamp, an old man and an ancient being alike shuddered as the Force roiled with a too-familiar fury. 

+++

Waking up... hurt. 

Wait. What? The last thing she remembered was the sting of a high-powered injector dart, she realized, fuzzily, but every inch of her body hurt like she'd been encased in carbonite again. She blinked, knew her eyelids moved... but the black in front of her face didn't change. 

Trying to grasp the Force was like trying to catch sunlight.

Was she still drugged? Well, there were Force tricks for that, no matter how little it seemed to want to come to her call. She started to breathe in a detoxifying pattern, willing her body free of the pain and her head free of the incredible fog, and other than that, stayed still. 

A rasping sound beside her told her she was not alone, once she started that pattern of breathing. The noise of a respirator followed, quiet and rhythmic, as a heavily gloved hand came to rest on her shoulder.

"Do not fight me, Ahsoka Tano," Darth Vader warned her. "You are showing signs of carbonite poisoning."

She snarled at him, the sound of the respirator and his voice enough to show her that they were in a low chamber, that she was lying on a pallet of some kind of stuffed fabric, that he was crouched beside her... and that they were alone. She wanted to grab for his lightsaber, turn it on with the Force and shove it through him without ever moving it from his side -- but his hand on her shoulder felt like an AT-AT was standing there and she still couldn't manage to hold on to the Force for more than moments at a time. 

It would be worth dying, if she could just take him with her. _Her_ Master would want her to. She fell back on Mando'a to tell him exactly where he could shove his warnings and his diagnosis alike, using the sounds to get a better picture of her surroundings.

Surprisingly, he let her continue to rant, even though he knew every syllable helped her fill in the picture of her surroundings, down to the smallest detail. Such as the fact he shifted to kneel, rather than crouch, taking his own ability to react to an attack down a notch.

"I see they did not neglect your vocabulary training, Ahsoka," he said when she had to take a breath. "Now, will you listen to me, or must we go through an attempt by you to kill me for me to be heard?"

"I'd protest 'attempt'," she growled, "but I feel like a two-day-old akul, and it's not as though I can shut you up anyway, so sure, talk." 

In another time, all of that might have made a young Jedi Knight smile. The Sith Lord, however, only saw it as a sign that the ally he needed was still undaunted. "I wish you to recover, Tano. To grow strong, quickly, here on this world of my allies.

"You will join me on my ship after that, so that we may move against our shared enemy." He waited for her to demand explanations, or to defy him, holding his secret close for now. Once he told her, he was certain she would accede to his demands.

'This world of my allies'... which probably just meant that any of the locals would kill her. Almost subtle, from him. She bared her teeth again, despite still being winded from cursing him out. That was more autocratic, more completely unbending didactic decree, than her Master had managed on his worst day, and... 

"Since _when_ do we have a 'shared' enemy?" she demanded. "In case you've forgotten, I want your precious 'Empire' destroyed." 

"In this, Tano, we are aligned," Vader told her. "Padmé's daughter will not be safe until the Emperor is dead, after all." He let the words fall, and waited for her reaction.

Ashoka felt her heart trip into triple-time, her head spin, the breath freeze in her lungs, and her sightless eyes turned towards him, listening with everything in her to the 'sense' of him. "Her -- her what? 

"But -- I saw the - the funeral, she was still -- " her hand locked onto his wrist, hard, as the idea reeled through her. The Senator's -- her Skyguy's -- daughter, alive? 

"An elaborate charade performed by someone," Vader said dangerously. It had to have been Kenobi! He'd been the one there, on Mustafar, leaving Anakin to burn to death slowly. "The child grew up on Alderaan, and recently came to my attention.

"I will not lose her!" Vader rasped out, fist clenching hard enough to make the material creak. "But I need a strong ally to attack the Emperor, if we are to succeed."

"On Alderaan?" she wanted to be able to see him, not just hear the echo of his presence, to feel his touch and not the kriffing armor, and for the Force that was so, so close to not feel so tainted with his rage. 

Well, she could just add all of that to the list of the things she was never going to have, she told herself sharply, and made a low, half-thoughtful, half-hungry noise at the idea of destroying the Emperor, of having a hand in it herself... 

She swatted at the piece of herself that was momentarily angry that he would turn as fast as a krayt on the Emperor for an unknown slip of a child, when he'd been willing to kill so many he had helped _raise_ \-- 

She couldn't afford that anger, and it wasn't the girl's fault that his head was a kriffing mess of twisted manipulations that apparently only the thought of a daughter of the Senator's could slice through. 

If there was any chance of saving the people of the galaxy (of maybe pulling her Skyguy back from inside this monster), of finally ridding it of the menace that was the Emperor, Ahsoka Tano was going to take it.

"Alright. _That_ , you have to know I'll help with." 

"The Noghri will give you ample opportunity to improve yourself before I have all the pieces in place, Tano," Vader told her. Now he rose to his feet, preparing to leave. "The maitrakh has your lightsabers, and this clan is versed in Basic. Rest, heal, and train, until it is time for you to join me." He could not afford to be away for much longer, not if he was to hide his true mission.

"The Noghri?" she questioned, having barely managed to force her hand to let go of him in time to avoid appearing like she was clinging to him. She wasn't, not to the Sith that had as good as murdered everything she loved about her Master, no matter how much the idea of being left alone, without real sight, bothered her. 

"The planet the Separatists poisoned? It is theirs," Vader said, growling it out, as there were listeners, guards, outside. "I am helping them recover their world." He had pledged to do so, 'revealing' the previous pledge of help as having been 'betrayed' by the Emperor to better insure their loyalty to him. 

She ached to believe that, wanted nothing more than to think that he honestly meant it... but she had spent too much time with Asajj Ventress and Darth Maul to be so easily swayed as that. "Mmm. I find it hard to believe that the Empire would help anyone, especially _nonhumans_..." 

"The Empire will be out of this equation soon enough. Heal quickly, Tano." He swept out, before he let anything more of his weakness come through. She was _Anakin's_ , and therefore, a danger to himself in the long run.

Yet he had protected her, in his own way. That was proof enough to him that he'd failed to completely eradicate his weaker side.

Ahsoka pushed herself to sit up, to pull on another exercise to clear her head, and silently promised herself that she would be ready sooner than he thought.


End file.
